All-purpose functional table



y 8, 1962 s. J. BROWN ET AL 3,033,627

ALL-PURPOSE FUNCTIONAL. TABLE Filed April 18, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS. STEPHEN J. BROWN BY WILLIAM J. BROWN A TTORNEYS,

y 1962 s. J. BROWN ET AL 3,033,627

ALL-PURPOSE FUNCTIONAL. TABLE Filed April 18, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 .15 9. 6' INVENTORS.

STEPHEN J. BROWN WILLIAM J. BROWN United States Patent liam J. Brown, Butler Pike and Stenton Ave., Plymouth Meeting, Pa. 7

Filed Apr. 18, 1961, Ser. No. 103,781 4 Claims. (Cl. 311-29) This invention relates to an all-purpose functional table and, more particularly, to a table which can be easily secured to an item of furniture such as a bed frame and which is movable in a Wide range to suit the convenience of the user. I

. The use of a table such as a serving table adjacent a bed is extremely well known and constitutes a great convenience to the user. The use of such devices has increased with the growth of comfortable accommodations such as motels for travelers. A table which is readily accessible to a user lying in a bed and yeteasily removed so as not to bother the user is in great demand.

Many tables seeking to fill this need have been suggested but such tables generally are positioned on the ground or floor and thus can be very inconvenient. Other tables cannot be readily removed from use.

It is, accordingly, an object of the present invention to provide a table which can be easily moved into position to serve the user and yet can be quickly moved essentially beyond his reach when desired.

Yet another object of the present invention is to providea clamp associated with the leg of a table whereby the table can be quickly and surely secured to a bed or V other item of furniture. I

The foregoing, as well as other objects of the invention, are achieved by providing a table'including a table top and an adaptive member such as a channel member secured thereto. A bracket member is adapted to interfit with the adaptive member, the bracket member consisting of an L-shaped rod, one leg of which interfits with the adaptive member and the other leg of which is positioned in a tube member telescoped thereover. The rod is rotatively secured in the tube member and is also adjustable in a vertical direction with respect thereto by virtue of clamp means secured about the tube member and exerting pressure on the rod. The other leg of the rod is secured in the adaptive member by the releasable clamp. Hence, the table top may be adjusted in a horizontal direction by manipulation of the clamp on the adaptive member. rection or rotated by manipulation of the clamp on the tube member.

Other objects and many' of the attendant advantages of this invention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective View of an embodiment of the present invention afliXed in operative position to the frame of a bed and showing in phantom two possible al ternative positions of the table top;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged side elevation partly in section of'the device of FIG. 1 affixed to the frame of a bed and showing the novel clamping member in phantom position;

The table top may be adjusted in a vertical diof the drawing wherein similar reference characters refer to similar parts, an all-purpose functional table embodying the present invention is generally shown at 10 in FIG. 1 and basically comprises a table top 12, and a bracket member 14 secured thereto and afiixed to the frame 16 of a bed 18.

Table top 12, as shown in FIG. 1, basically comprises on its upper surface a frame 20 circumscribed about a table area 22 and having ornamental trimming 24 associated with the frame 20. v

Secured to the underside of the table top 12 as shown in FIG. 3 is a support frame 26 which is disposed beneath the peripheral edges of table area 22. Secured to theframe 26'and to the table area 22 as shown in FIG. 4 is a channel 28'having a horizontal bridging section 30', arms 32 and 34 with flanges 36 and 38 extending therefrom. Rivets 40 secure channel 28 via the flanges to the table area-22. As shown in FIG. 3, the-channel member extends across substantially the entire length of the table and may slide vertically with respect thereto.

top 12.

, Bracket member 14 basically comprises an L-shaped rod 42 and a tube member 44. L-shaped rod 42 includes horizontal leg 46 and a vertical leg 48. Horizontal leg 46 is telescoped within channel member 28 and is releasablysecured for sliding movement with respect to the channel member 28 by a threaded clamp 50 (FIG. 4)

' which'includes a knob 52 and a threaded stem'54 which passes through a neck portion 56 secured to the lower surface of bridging section 30 of channel member 28 and then through an opening 58 in the channel member 28 to exert pressure against the rod 46. As shown in FIG. 4, the rod 46 is of a hollow oval shape but obviously may assume other well known forms such as circular or cubical and may be solid rather than hollow. Vertical leg 48 of the rod 42 is telescoped within hollow tube 44 The tube 44 is fluted at its upper end 60 so that a collar member62 positioned thereabout may exert pressure on the fluting to hold the vertical leg 48 in any desired position with respect to the tubing 44. The collar 62 includes lateral flanges 64 and 66' having openings through which the threaded stern of a clamp 68 similar to the clamp 50 passes.

Secured near the lower end of'the tubing 44 is clamp means 70 as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. Engaging means 70 basically comprises an upper plate 72 and a lower plate 74 having respective openings 76 and 78 for reception of the tubing44. Upper plate 72 (FIG. 7) insection 86 has an opening 90 therein for reception of FIG. 3 is a view taken along the lines 33 of FIG. 2;

the threaded stem 92 of clamp member 94 with knob 96. As shown in FIG. 5, two clamp members may be em ployed. As shown in FIG. 6, the tubing 44 is inserted through openings 76 and 78 in plates 72 and 74.

Upper plate 72 is positioned over the frame 16 of the bed 18 in such a manner that a segment of the upper portion of frame 16 is held between fingers and 81 with portion 82 lying generally horizontally. Lower plate 74 is positioned beneath frame 16 in such a manner that I clamp member 94 bears against the lower edge of the frame 16. It is thus seen that tubing 44 is spaced from and positioned generally parallel to frame 16. Hence, the present device can be secured to bed frames ofwidely varying configurations.

It is readily apparent that when clamp 94 is tightened so that stem 92 is brought to bear against the lower edge of frame 16, the inclined section 86 is urged downwardly or in a clockwise sense in the direction of arrow so that lower edge 89 of wall 85 defining hole 78 bites into tubing 44.

This in turn induces a corresponding rotative tendency in the horizontal section 84in the direction of arrow 102 so that upper edge 87 of wall 85 bites into tubing 44. The pressure exerted by stem 92 thus causes the lower plate 72 to be wedged in place against tubing 44. Since plate 72 cannot move downwardly, the tubing 44 is accordingly supported.

Moreover, the upward pressure exerted by stem 92 against frame 16 also tends to force the upper edge 97 of the frame 16 against the pocket in upper plate 72 existing between fingers 80 and 81 so that upper edge 79 of wall 77 defining. hole 76 bites into tubing 44. Thus, there is a tendency for the plate 72 to be rotated in counterclockwise in the direction of arrows 186 and 188. Horizontal section 82 is accordingly wedged downwardly so that lower edge 83 of wall 77 bites into tubing 44. Hence, the plate 72 tends to be wedged in place against tubing 4-4 and thereby cooperates with the clamping action exerted by the stem 92 upon the lower plate 74 to provide a stable structure. 7 i

' It is thus seen that the plates 72 and 74 may be initially slid as indicated in phantom in FIG. 2 on the tubing 44 to any desired height to accommodate the height of the frame to which they are to be clamped. The clamp 94 is then tightened to the desired degree to seat the engaging means 70. The table top 12 may then be adjusted vertically by a loosening of the clamp 68 and a raising or lowering of leg 48 of rod 42 with respect to tubing 44. At the same time, the table top 12 may be rotated about bracket. member 14 as an axis to the phantom positions of FIG. 1 or in other desired angular position. When the table top 12 has been brought to the desired vertical and angular position, the clamp 22 is tightened in order to hold such position. The table top may be extended in horizontal direction with respect to the support memher 14 by merely loosening clamp 50 and sliding the leg 46 with respect to the channel member 28 and retightening the clamp 58 to hold that position.

Itis thus seen that a table is provided which need not be supported on the ground and can be simply and easily atfixed to the frame of a bed or other furniture by novel clamp means. The table top may then be adjusted horizontally, vertically or angularly as desired by the user in a simple but efiective manner.

Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in the light of the above teachings. It is, therefore, to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

What is claimed as the invention is:

1. An all-purpose functional table comprising a table top with adaptive means, a bracket member therefor and engaging means for securing said bracket member to a support, said bracket member including an L-shaped rod and a hollow tube, said L -shaped rod including a first leg and a second leg, the first leg of the L-shaped. rod releasably interfitting with said adaptive means and the second leg of said L-shaped rod releasably interfittin'g in said hollow tubing, said engaging means including an upper plate and a lower plate spaced from each other and initially slidable on said tubing, said plates being adapted to hold said tubing and grasp said support, said upper plate comprising a generally horizontal portion slidable on said tubing and a pair of spaced fingers depending therefrom to define a pocket which embraces the upper portion of said support, said lower plate comprising a generally horizontal portion sli'dable on said tubing, an inclined portion bearing upwardly against said support and an adjustable threaded stem projecting through said inclined portion to exert pressure upwardly against said support to wedge the horizontal portion of the lower plate against said tubing, saidupward pressure alsov wedging the horizontal portion of the upper plate against said tubing, and clamping means associated with said adaptive means and said tubing whereby said table top is adjustable with respect to the first leg of said L- shaped rod and whereby the second leg of said Lshaped rod is adjustable with respect to said tubing and pivotable thereabout.

2. The invention of claim 1 whereinv the first leg of said L-shaped rod is horizontal and the second leg of the L-shaped rod is vertical. r

3. The invention of claim 1 wherein the upper end of said tubing is fluted and clamping means are secured thereabout.

4. The invention of claim 1 wherein said adaptive means constitutes a channel member secured to the underside of said table.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 252,908 Stokes Jan. 31, 1882 462,319 Loehner et al. Nov. 3, 1891 1,256,498 Baker Feb. 12, 1918 1,797,847 Vandagriff Mar. 24, 1931 1,939,223 Palmer Dec. 12, 1933 FOREIGN PATENTS 316,119 Switzerland Nov, v15, 1956 

